Living Torah Archives

Mrs. Esther Sternberg is the director of the Shabbos Candle Campaign, a division of the Lubavitch Women's Organization. She was involved in the medical care of the Rebbe’s wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, until the Rebbetzin’s passing in 1988. While the Rebbe was still sitting Shiva, the Shabbos Candle Campaign announced a new fund in honor of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka. They didn’t inform the Rebbe of the new campaign, but once the Shiva was over, the Rebbe called her and her father to his home on President Street.

In the 1970s, Charles Ramat had a number of audiences with the Rebbe. During one of these meetings, he asked the Rebbe about something he was struggling with.

A girl spoke in a non-religious school in Israel about the Mitzvah of Shabbos candles. She taught them the blessings, and gave them candles and candlesticks to take home.

Yehudah Clapman recalls arranging a private audience with the Rebbe for his cousins. After asking the girls in the family to light their own Shabbos candle, the Rebbe offered them a special gift to help them get started. When they tried to thank the Rebbe as they left, it was the Rebbe who thanked them instead.